The gardens at Villandry are extensive. They comprise the most complete example of the formal Renaissance design adopted under the influence of the Italian gardeners brought into France by Charles VIII. They offer the most varied and extensive variety of layout of any of the Loire chäteaux. While the formality of the Renaissance design was Italian, French motifs are found in many of the details. The design of Villandry consists of three terraces one above the other. The highest is the water garden with a wide sheet of water acting as a reservoir. Below it is the flower garden where geometric designs outlined in box hedging represent allegories of love, and musical symbols; additional designs are based on the Maltese, Languedoc and Basque crosses. The lowest level consists of an intricate, ornamental kitchen garden arranged in nine squares containing vegetables and fruit trees bordered by clipped hedges of box and yew. All these features provide a wonderful backdrop for canals, fountains, cascades, vine-covered pergolas and a Romanesque village church. Records show that the species of flowers, shrubs and fruit trees known in the 16C were approximately the same as those of today, though the potato had not yet been cultivated(it was introduced by Parmentier in the 18C.) Gardening, however was well advanced by the 16C, as revealed by documentation and surviving descriptions of facilities. Altered beyond recognition by former owners, the gardens were restored to their original state by Joachim de Carvallo, founder of the French Historic Houses Association [insert comma] who acquired the property in 1906. Research by Olga Williams-Klement, B. Arch., RIBA, for Archivision